Question

Explain how the surface volume of cells affects the rate of exchange of materials in and out of cells in multi-cellular organisms.

Answer 1

Cells use diffusion to get substances in and out of themselves. That diffusion will occur across the cell membrane or the outer covering of the cell. Because we are talking about the surface of the cell, surface area and volume are important factors here. As a cell increases in size, its surface area and volume increase as well. We call that the surface area to volume ratio (SA:Vol). But the catch is that volume increases at a greater rate than surface area. In other words, as a cell gets bigger, the SA:Vol gets smaller. So a really small cell like bacteria is mostly cell membrane (surface) with very little contents (volume). A really big cell like an egg, is mostly insides with a super thin membrane. So what ends up happening is that the cell cannot efficiently diffuse all of the stuff it needs in/out to survive. Therefore cell size is limited to about 100mm. So how do we make organisms bigger than 100mm? Cells divide! By dividing and becoming multicellular, organisms are able to grow!  Check out the diagrams I attached to see the effect of SA:Vol. I hope this helped! Good luck! :-) 

Answer 2

As the surface volume of cells increases, the rate of exchange of materials increases. Hope this helps.